


things you said I wasn't meant to hear

by MadSophHatter



Series: A Collection of Pride Drabbles [4]
Category: Pride (2014)
Genre: Angst, Eavesdropping, HIV/AIDS, M/M, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:31:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3872182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadSophHatter/pseuds/MadSophHatter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a party after the Pride march Mike secretly overhears a talk between Mark and Steph, who wants to find out what happened during his time away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	things you said I wasn't meant to hear

**Author's Note:**

> This drabble was written for a prompt that I used for the title. I got it on tumblr from Chele accringtonsodomite.
> 
> The characters are based on the characters seen in the film Pride. They don't belong to me and have nothing to do with the real people going by the same names.

Mike was sitting on a sofa that was so worn from use that it was impossible to get comfortable. He was nursing his beer, contemplating what to do about his current situation. It had been a couple of weeks since the Pride march, since Mark had come back. Squinting at it from afar you could think that their relationship had gone back to normal. But it hadn’t – not at all. Him sitting here on his own was the best testament to that.

Normally when they were at a party like this one, Mark would go around greeting everyone he knew, flirting here and there, being sociable. But he’d always circle back to Mike on a regular basis. The man from Accrington had even been able to identify the exact pattern. Every 45 minutes Mark would plop down next to him and give him a short account of what had transpired so far. Like clockwork. Every time. Needless to say that the fact that he’d been sitting here alone for about two hours had Mike worrying sick.

But that was only one way in which Mark subtly ignored him. It wasn’t that the Irishman wouldn’t talk to him – quite the opposite. Mark was even more talkative than before, when they spend time together. The problem was that Mark didn’t go out of his way to be with him anymore. Any contact between them had to be initiated by Mike. This only served to make Mike wary. Whatever had driven Mark away months ago was still there somehow. And Mike was worried that it was something about him. The fact that Mark never spoke about his time away didn’t help either.

After his third beer he’d accumulated enough courage – or was it recklessness – to dare confronting Mark about all this. So he got off that damn sofa and made his way through the dancing and chatting crowd in order to find the Irishman.

As he finally spotted Mark near the door to the flat, the other man was being pulled outside to the staircase by Steph. She looked very serious. Mike was so curious about what she had to tell Mark in private. He blamed the alcohol for his lack of discretion as he followed them to the entrance. When he stepped out of the flat, he could hear them talking two floors down.

“I don’t know what you want, Steph.” Mark tried to sound as if he couldn’t care less, but his voice was so tense that Mike could easily identify his distress.

“Oh don’t play dumb with me, Mark, I have eyes and ears. Something happened that you’re not telling us. And I think that isn’t fair.” Mike didn’t know why it stung a bit that Steph was just as good at calling Mark’s bullshit as he was. “I know you kind of apologised to Mike. But do you think that’s all it takes? You know what happened to Joe, what happened to Gethin! And you weren’t there. And when you come back – no word of explanation or apology to any of us? That’s shitty Mark and you know it!”

“So you’re angry because I ran away?” There was and edge of defensiveness to Mark’s voice. “You have every right to be. I’m sorry I left you hanging when times got tough.”

“I’m less angry than worried.” Steph’s usually snarky tone was replaced by a calm seriousness that made Mike frown. “I’d like to know some things. Like, why are you acting so weird? Why do you avoid Mike? And what did you mean by ‘Life is short’?”

There was a short silence and Mike could only imagine the stern look on Steph’s face. It was usually very effective at making people talk. And it obviously worked on Mark since he pressed out from between clenched teeth, “So Bromley blabbed.”

“Oh don’t be mad at him. He lives with me now. I had a lot of time to work that out of him. He had absolutely no chance.” Mark gave a humourless snort at that. But Steph continued undeterred, “Don’t try to change the topic. What did you mean by that?”

There was a long silence. Only the sound of Mark’s and Steph’s breathing filled the staircase. The longer it lasted the harder it got to not make his presence known. Mike felt uneasy about his eavesdropping. Whatever would be said in this staircase would never have come out if Mark knew that Mike was standing right there. It felt wrong but he simply needed to know what this was all about.

While Mike’s conscience was still battling his curiosity and concern, two floors down Mark gave a defeated sigh. As he spoke his voice was hoarse and almost inaudible. It seemed to take a lot of effort to get the words out at all. “Do you remember Tim?”

You could hear the frown in Steph’s voice as she asked, “Your ex-boyfriend Tim? The redhead with the ears? Yes I do remember Tim. What about him?” Mike was asking the same question in his head. Then he remembered how they’d met Tim the night of the Pits and Perverts Ball. He’d seemed extremely off back then.

His thoughts were disrupted when Mark replied, “He died some months ago.”

“Oh”, was all Steph had to say. She was probably stunned by the bad conscience you get when you learn you’ve just called a recently deceased person “the redhead with the ears”.

“He had Aids, Steph. He died of Aids.” That was followed by another long silence. The time stretched like limps suspended on a rack. For Steph the penny took longer to drop than for Mike. He knew at once what this implied. His heart was beating so hard against his rips that it seemed impossible for the other two not to hear it. Mike clenched his fists to keep himself from screaming. He tried to hold his breath because he knew if he didn’t, he’d pant so loud they’d definitely hear him. He ended up pressing one fist between his teeth and biting down so hard that he drew blood.

“Oh shit”, Steph said eloquently right into Mike’s building panic attack. But of course, what else was there to say?

“Oh shit indeed.”

“Oh Mark. Do you think you have it? Did you get tested?”

There was a sound Mike couldn’t place, but it had to have been Mark shaking his head because Steph asked, “Why not?”

“Shit, I don’t know. I’m afraid, Steph. I’m so fucking afraid.” Mike could hear the tears in Mark’s voice. And it just seemed fair that the other man would be crying because rivers of saltwater were running down Mike’s face as well. As he heard the rustling of fabric, he hoped it meant Steph was hugging Mark. That man was in desperate need of a hug and every shred of Mike’s mind screamed at him to get up, run down the two flights of stairs and pull him into is arms. But somehow his body just wouldn’t move. He was nailed to the spot by fear and disbelief.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding Mike?” Steph’s voice was muffled by fabric or flesh. “But you love him, you idiot.”

Mark’s quiet sobs were broken by a snort. “Yeah, being away has made that very clear to me.” He sounded bitter, spitting out each word. “But how could I be with him now? I can’t ask him to go through this! I don’t want him to hurt like that.”

“I don’t know if that’s a choice you get to make”, Steph said ominously.

The sobbing continued for long minutes. Mike was grateful that it drowned out his own muffled crying. He was still paralysed, his body feeling just as empty as his head.

As Mark’s sobs got more quiet, Mike’s tears flowed more slowly as well. He could hear Steph using a voice so soft and soothing; he’d never believed it belonged to her, “Come on. Let’s go for a walk. If we go back in with you looking like this, everyone will ask what happened. I bet you could use some fresh air.”

And just like that they were gone and Mike was alone. He stood next to the door that separated him from the folks partying on the other side. It felt surreal that they could be dancing and having fun while his whole world had just collapsed in on itself.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked my drabble or have any constructive criticism, please let me know. I'm always happy about kudos and comments. Thanks.
> 
> If you want any more Pride headcanons or drabbles, have a look on my tumblr. There I'm called lilbasthet.


End file.
